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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162911">Read the Room</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rissaleigh49/pseuds/rissaleigh49'>rissaleigh49</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Arcana (Visual Novel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Misunderstandings, Pregnancy, Spoilers for Julian's route, Unplanned Pregnancy, spoilers for Asra's route</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:20:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,234</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162911</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rissaleigh49/pseuds/rissaleigh49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Julian needs to learn to grow up. Aine is scared. Can their relationship withstand the changes that are coming? </p><p>Related to my gift fic, The Hanged Man as the Rigger, by INeedMoreHadesBeforeISwoon. </p><p>Rated E for later chapters.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Asra/Nadia (The Arcana)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Read the Room</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26982724">The Hanged Man as The Rigger</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/INeedMoreHadesBeforeISwoon/pseuds/INeedMoreHadesBeforeISwoon">INeedMoreHadesBeforeISwoon</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Well this is new! </p><p>Julian/Apprentice with background Asra/Nadia. Premise: Spoilers for mostly Asra’s route with a few details from Julian’s, with a Julian/Apprentice romance. Instead of being romantically involved, Asra’s motivations were sibling love - Aine grew up with him and Muriel, and was never actually his “apprentice” - rather, she was Julian’s, once Asra left during the plague. He came back when she died, and blamed Julian for letting her die. Julian went underground when she came back, believing the worst of himself, and did not interfer with Asra trying to take care of her.</p><p>Nothing much else to say other than I hope you enjoy, and shout out to Swoonie for being the best beta a beta could be</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>I absent-mindedly dusted the already clean countertop in my shop, hoping Julian would come home before Asra and Portia showed up. Yes, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> invited them, but I wanted Julain to hear what I had to say, alone. I wanted his reaction unhindered by Asra’s quiet judgement or Portia’s excitement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a quick knock at the shop door before it opened, and I let out a disappointed sigh, though I smiled as Portia’s smiling face and auburn curls bounded up to me. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aine! Did you tell him yet?” she asked, bouncing up on her toes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I laughed lightly. “No, Pasha dear, he’s not home yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Portia’s face fell a little, but she quickly perked back up. “Well, that’s okay! If you’re up to it, maybe I can practice reading the cards again. Just while we wait?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I nodded, smiling brightly. Asra was amazing, but there was something even more rewarding in being the master for a change, and Portia was an excellent pupil. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the hours passed by with no sign of Julian (or Asra), I became increasingly worried. Where was he? He wouldn’t stand me up… right? We were past all that… weren’t we?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the sun set and even Portia’s exuberance had subsided, she shuffled upstairs to make us both some tea. Just as she disappeared upstairs to my apartment, there were three sharp knocks at the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With my heart in my throat, I hurried to answer it, only to find Mazelinka on my doorstep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fearing the worst, I wordlessly moved aside to let her in, and she immediately started chatting up a storm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I brought you an herbal tonic to help the baby grow,” she started, placing a tall clay bottle on the shop counter. “I gotta say I was surprised you weren’t over there at the Raven celebrating with those boys of yours, but they looked pretty deep in so I didn’t bother asking them about it. I just headed straight here to check on you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I blinked at her, realization settling in as I processed what her words meant, and the pit in my stomach burst into flames, anger burning through me the way the plague burned through Vesuvia.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>I laid out on the plush cusions, my head in Portia’s lap as she carded throgh my hair. She, Nadia, and I had become the closest of friends once Portia was promoted to her head consul, and the Countess was more than happy to oblige us the use of her rooms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a night of angry tears and ruined surprises, I could fall asleep to the feeling of Portia playing with my hair, and if I closed my eyes I could pretend it was another Devorak comforting me. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, there was a commotion just beyond the door and down the stairs from the sitting room we were in, in the main entrance of the palace. Portia and Nadia exchanged a worried glance before they sprung into action, Portia tapping me gently to get me to move off her lap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” I asked, as if I didn’t hear an overly familiar (and currently unwelcome) voice worriedly shouting for Nadia.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let us take care of it, dear,” Nadia said calmly, reaching for Portia’s hand. “You should rest. Your rooms have already been prepared for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I waited until I was sure they were downstairs, and then used my magic to shield me from anyone’s view. Not invisible, per say, but still, no one would notice me. I snuck out to the landing, staying close to the wall so that the movement wouldn’t draw any suspicion, and turned my attention to the conversation on the main staircase. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-can’t even find her with a locator spell! He’s still asking around if anyone came to the shop or if she left with someone but don’t you see! Something bad has happened! And I just know… wait.” Julian blinked, seeming to just notice the matching expressions on Portia and Nadia’s faces. “Why aren’t either of you concerned?” He was out of breath from his rambling, but his shoulders were tense and his fingers kept crossing and uncrossing the way they did when he got nervous. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For the sake of the Arcana, learn to read the room, Julian.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ilya,” Portia started, her voice a dangerous calm. “Did it ever occur to you that the reason Asra can’t find Aine is because she doesn’t want to be found?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But why wouldn’t she want to be found? Do you know where she went?” His voice went from scared to hopeful, and I felt a part of my heart twinge at how concerned he was for me. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Portia scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning back on one hip. “You’re an idiot, Ilya.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quite. Julian, I suggest you go home before you make an even bigger fool of yourself.” Nadia turned to dismiss him, but froze when the heavy front door slammed open. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mazelinka stomped through the hall, dragging Asra by the ear with one hand and clutching her wooden spoon with the other. “You!” she shouted, marching up to Julian and whacking him on the shoulder with the spoon. “That girl is the best thing to ever happen to you and you were so inconsiderate and stupid!” Julian cowered, holding up his hands to attempt to avoid her assault, but she only smacked his hands away. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> you were raised better than this!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maz!” Portia intervened, throwing a sympathetic look to her brother. “I think they get it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mazelinka stepped away, letting go of Asra’s ear with a scowl. They all stared at each other with varying emotions - Mazelinka angry, Asra and Julian shamefaced, Portia annoyed, and Nadia exasperated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think everyone should go home.” Nadia’s voice took on the commanding edge it did when she was addressing her subjects. “Yes, Aine is safe, and she is getting her rest because my siblings are arriving tomorrow from Prakra.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Siblings?” Julian questioned, and I could see the wheels turning, his thoughts turning over everyone’s words, trying to work out what they </span>
  <em>
    <span>weren’t saying</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I felt my face blanche at her words. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shut up Nadia!</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Nazali and Nasmira are the best doctor and midwife from Prakra -”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nazali? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Midwife</span>
  </em>
  <span>?! Is Aine… </span>
  <em>
    <span>pregnant</span>
  </em>
  <span>?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I saw Nadia cringe at her slipup, and decided to make my presence known. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I stepped out between Portia and Nadia, and Julian’s eyes widened. “You’d have known that if you had bothered to come home on time… or at all.” I locked eyes with Julian, who seemed unsure of what to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aine -” Asra started, but I cut him off with a glare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Asra, I swear, if you try to give me some bullshit explanation, I will hex you so bad not even your mother will be able to find you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stilled, and I turned to avoid Julian’s searching gaze. I gave Nadia a small smile so she knew I wasn’t upset with her, and climbed the stairs to my rooms.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>I didn’t realize a room could make me emotional. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Usually I stayed here with Julian, and we had been here so often that it was almost like our second home. I’d been here plenty of times without him, too, so I didn’t understand why it was bothering me now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever the reason, I was now sobbing over sleeping in that bed without him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I went over to the chest on the end of the bed, and found one of Julian’s spare shirts at the bottom under some of my skirts and dresses and a pair of trousers that looked too short for him and too long for me. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I changed into his shirt, the light fabric falling to mid-thigh on my short frame, my curves filling it out in a way that Julian’s lithe form never would. I realized in a few short months I wouldn't be able to steal his clothes to sleep in anymore, and the tears started again as I undid my braid so I could go to sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the knee length purple tresses were free combed, I flipped my head over to pile it back on top of my head and wrap it around itself in a loose knot. I had been woken up too many nights from it getting wrapped around me or someone else in the middle of the night. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I laid down on the bed, curling in on myself, but sleep never came. After a while, I rose with a scoff, wrapping myself in a robe Nadia had left for me, and headed to the library. I found myself there in seemingly no time, and used my magic to unpick the locks. I smiled to myself, remembering when I was investigating Julian, and was only able to undo one. I’d come such a long way in such a short time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nadia was sitting there, hair braided and shawl wrapped tightly around her to keep off the chill. She looked up at me from the book she had perched in her lap, but I got the feeling she wasn’t really focused on the text. “Couldn’t sleep?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I shook my head. “You either?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know I get along better with my siblings </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span> than I did when I was younger, but I still get nervous whenever I have to see them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I nodded, about to say something that could come off as comforting, but we were both distracted by another commotion in the hallway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ilya, will you </span>
  <em>
    <span>shut up!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Portia’s voice came through the door, even though I could tell she was trying to whisper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am just trying to apologize, Pasha. I promise -”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know, you promise not to bother Aine if I let you into the library. It also saves me the pain of you keeping me up all night with your pacing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the last lock clicked, the door swung open, and I had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit with it. Portia looked back and forth between Nadia and myself, but I could feel Julian’s eyes locked on me. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I looked at the floor, unsure what I wanted to do. On one hand, Julian and I </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to talk, and despite my anger, I couldn’t seem to sleep without him. But I was still upset with him, and wasn’t sure if I was ready to let it go yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even if I couldn’t quite understand why. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Portia, why don’t you and I get some tea and leave these two to talk,” Nadia said suddenly, dispersing the tension that had built in my silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julian stepped into the library, and the two women left, closing the door behind them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ya….” Julian approached me, arms outstretched as if he wanted to hold me, but he stopped himself short. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I couldn’t take it, and ran into his arms, crying into his chest. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me tonight - I never cried like this - but Julian didn’t seem to mind. He just wrapped his arms around me, one snug around my waist, the other cradling the back of my head. “I’m sorry, my love. There is no excuse. I should have least told you I was meeting Asra after I closed the clinic. I should have just brought him to the shop. I should have done so many things.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought something had happened to you!” I wailed, hands clutching at his tear-damp shirt. “I’m so angry with you, and I’m sad and I’m scared and I miss you and… and… I don’t understand any of it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julian chuckled a little bit, and I looked at him with a deathly glare. “Love, you’re…. You’re pregnant.” His smile fell a little bit as he said that, as if it suddenly just hit him that we were going to be parents. He cleared his throat, that mask of cocky indifference and confidence in his knowledge settling over his face as if it never left. “Pregnancy can cause all sorts of symptoms - nausea, vomiting, headaches, aches and pains, odd cravings, and um… heightened and extreme emotional states.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I sighed, shoulders dropping in exhaustion. Hearing that I had more of these rolling waves of feelings to look forward over the next few months was bad enough, but Julian’s presence had calmed me, his scent sending all racing thoughts and insomnia fleeing. “Will you promise me you will be home when you tell me you will?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do. For the love of the stars, Aine, I promise I will do whatever you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now it was my turn to chuckle. “I’ll try not to hold you to that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want right now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To go to bed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julian wiggled his eyebrows at me, but he didn’t make a move to take it any further. “Would you like me to carry you, darling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I snorted. “Julian, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I’ll break you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Apparently he took that as some sort of challenge, because the next thing I knew, he had lifted me into his arms, seemingly effortlessly. “Use your magic to open the door, and I will take you to bed.” He fixed me with a look that </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely</span>
  </em>
  <span> had something to do with how I got pregnant in the first place. “To </span>
  <em>
    <span>sleep</span>
  </em>
  <span> Aine. You need to rest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I pouted, waving my hand to open the door, and wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me down the hall to </span>
  <em>
    <span>our</span>
  </em>
  <span> room. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments and feedback are always appreciated. </p><p>xoxo<br/>rissa</p></blockquote></div></div>
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